Hot Rod Formal

Volvo thought outside the box when it penned the 262C Bertone

Feature Article from Hemmings Motor News

With very few exceptions--the P1900 convertible and 1800S coupe spring to mind--almost every Volvo built through the late 1970s placed practicality above all else, with form following function at a safe distance. The world had grown accustomed to the Swedish automaker's "bricks," the sturdy and slab-sided 140 and 240 series, so when Volvo debuted their first luxury coupe, the Bertone-built 262C, in 1978, this car's raked windshield, bold C-pillars and deeply chopped roof were a shock like an ice bath after a sauna.
The idea for the 262C's styling was born when Henry Ford II and his team came to inspect Volvo's groundbreaking team assembly plant in the mid-1970s. Bob Austin, a 31-year Volvo employee and former director of marketing communications, explained: "They brought over a number of cars to drive, all two-door Lincoln Mark [IV] coupes with low roofs and wide C-pillars. American cars were rare in Sweden, and they caught the attention of people both inside and outside of Volvo. We wanted to build a car like that, but we knew it would have to be done off-line, and that the tooling costs would be too much. Our people were talking to the people at [Carrozzeria] Bertone at an auto show in Europe, and Bertone expressed great interest in the project; the two companies had previously teamed up to build the Europe-only 264TE limousine.
"Because 85 percent of the 262's structure already existed--the floor pans, fenders, mechanicals and drivelines--Bertone would only have to make custom stampings for the roof pillars, roof pan, the upper doors and the windshield surround and cowl. Volvo would ship the stampings and drivetrains to Bertone in Turin, Italy, and they would assemble the finished cars with custom leather interiors," he says.
The unusual roofline that became the 262C Bertone's trademark was styled by Volvo's chief designer, Jan Wilsgaard. While this feature was most noted for its formal design and nearly three-inch lower height, it was also distinguished by a steeper-than-stock windshield angle and unique rear and quarter window glass. Special crown emblems fitted to the C-pillars echoed the car's internal code name: Tre Kroner, or Three Crowns.
The coupe's lower roofline prompted Volvo to mount the seats closer to the floor, but period magazine testers still complained of compromised headroom for folks over six feet. And in comparison to the airy greenhouses of standard models, the Bertone's enclosed roofline meant that rear three-quarter visibility suffered, an unusual trait for usually practical Volvo.
From the 262C Bertone's arrival in 1978 through model year 1980, its controversial roof was set off by a standard vinyl covering; in its last year of 1981, the car--now simply called the Bertone Coupé--dropped the vinyl cap for a unified look. A total of 6,622 of these exclusive cars were built for worldwide consumption, and their roofline makes them the most aggressive, distinctive Volvos of their time.

This article originally appeared in the November, 2009 issue of Hemmings Motor News.